Released in 1972, after many of it's artists had risen to international acclaim, Broadside Ballads, Vol. 6 contains previously unreleased songs that appeared in the folk publication Broadside... more

Named for the folk magazine Broadside, this 1963 LP (later reissued by Smithsonian Folkways) was recorded in Broadside's cramped NY apartment in decidedly intimate fashion. Along with "The Ballad of... more

According to legend, the Maori migrated by canoe from Hawaiki in eastern Polynesia to New Zealand a thousand years ago. As their population increased over time, so did feuding among tribes, and... more

Produced and recorded by Henrietta Yurchenco. Rabinal Achi is one of the few pre-Columbian literary works to survive the Conquest, a tragic story of epic proportions that, like other pre-Hispanic... more

As one of the great devotees and collectors of folk songs, Bela Bartok visited villages throughout Eastern European countries such as Hungary and Romania in order to record local peasants on the... more

On a hot August day in 1958 in Delaney, Arkansas, a group of local musicians joined David Mangurian and Don Hill for an impromptu recording session in a bare-walled room at the back of the local... more

American folklorist Harold Courlander compiled this series (Negro Folk Music of Alabama) from recordings he made in rural Alabama in 1950. The album is an attempt to counter the stereotypes of Black... more

Produced and recorded by David Blair Stiffler. "First contacted from the outside world by Columbus on his fourth and final voyage in 1502, the Miskito Indians have been able to maintain their culture... more

This mysterious album opens with banging and creaking and could be mistaken for a minimalist sound piece. It is in fact the sounds of an office from 1964. Rustling papers, drawers closing, typing and... more

Peter, Moller, and Gehot may not be household names, but American Colonial Instrumental Music shows their importance in early American classical music. All three composers were born in Europe but... more

This 1952 Folkways compilation includes songs from the six republics of the former Yugoslavia, now independent countries Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.... more

This eerie album opens with high pitched sounds followed by crackling and rustling noises. While what produced these noises is not identified, they are assigned possibilities such as "Sound of... more

As the original liner notes insist, the Hawaiian guitar craze that surprised the nation in the 1920s did not end-it just changed to incorporate different repertoires and styles, including jazz,... more

Sounds of New Music is a collection of 18 compositions from the 1920s to the mid-1950s representing attempts at a new means of musical expression. Some use familiar instruments in new ways, while... more

Classical Music of Iran, Vol. 2: The Dastgah Systems continues the presentation of classical Persian music featured in Classical Music of Iran, Vol. 1: The Dastgah System, compiled in 1966 by Ella... more

In this lively album, the listener is transported to Andalusia in southern Spain, an area brimming with flamenco song and dance. The album primarily features songs in the traditional cuadro flamenco... more

The Dominican Republic is a culturally complex country and is roughly divisible into several different culture zones. These include the more Hispanic or Iberian North (the Cibao), and the more... more

These recordings were made in 1951 by Dr. Andrew H. Whiteford in the little city of Popayin, in southwestern Colombia. Two types of traditional music are found in Popayin: The murga and the chirimia.... more

In Africa, musicians compose and sing thousands of songs about contemporary topics. This collection represents a musical protest against apartheid. Pete Seeger, Guy Carawan, and Garrett Morris... more

The 1982 album Rabab: Egyptian Singing and Epic Songs highlights the rababa, a two-stringed spike fiddle made from a coconut shell that is used to accompany the lead singers (rais) of vocal ensembles... more

In 1957 Vinton Wight recorded and collected the sounds various different Steam Locomotives. He explains that "Stack Music" is "that delightful sound caused by super heated steam, exhausted from the... more